13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ,[b] the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. Matt. 16:13-17
In this text, Jesus asked a very direct question of His disciples. He had made a major splash among the people throughout the whole region of Judea, and lots of people were talking about Jesus.
It is interesting to note that the superstitious Jews suspected Jesus might have been a resurrected prophet like John the Baptist, Jeremiah or Elijah. These were men who came with displays of power and with the word of God.
But Peter would have none of that. When Jesus asked His closest companions – the men who had really come to know Him – to identify Him, there was only one answer.
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ,[b] the Son of the living God.”
What we are to take from the passage is that this is the answer. With Jesus, there is no list of possibilities. He is more than great prophet, great teacher, great leader. Yes, He is all of those things, but He is more. Jesus is the Christ.
What is the meaning of “the Christ”?
The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). John 1:41
The term Christ is a Greek word meaning “anointed one”, which is translated from the Hebrew term “Messiah”. The Messiah was understood by the Jews to be the great one anointed by God who would bring to a climax God’s redemptive work for Israel. The days He would usher in were prophesied about in the most vivid of positive imagery:
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling [a] together;
and a little child will lead them.7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest.9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. Is. 11:6-9
It’s like the line from that great song we hear so often during the Christmas season, O Little Town of Bethlehem:
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
…
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
The Christ would be the answer to every hope and fear of man. Peter had seen Jesus’ miracles, had interacted with Him daily, heard His words, knew His heart. He recognized Jesus for who He was and is. Peter would later learn (in Acts 10) that this Messiah was the hope and redemption of all men, not just the Jews. Today many of us bristle at the idea of needing a Christ. Offending our modern sensibilities, the Bible makes the spectacular claim that Jesus is the answer to everything. He is man’s only hope for redemption and peace. He is the only way to have a relationship with the God of creation. He is the Lord of all. Everything was created by Him and for Him. Every knee will bow to Him in the day He comes to judge men.-century Jews were a downtrodden lot, a defeated people living under the shadow of Roman domination. We, on the other hand, are a free, independent, strong-willed, educated modern people. Why do we need a savior? Accepting Jesus as Christ in our modern world requires a radical change in thinking. This is why so many reject Him today.
Do you say He is the Christ?
Peter also says Jesus is the “son of the living God”. This was a startling revelation. As the Son of the living God, Jesus was more than just “Christ”. He was more than a great spiritual leader or earthly king. He came directly from God Himself. He was neither God’s human mouthpiece like one of the prophets nor His earthly representative like Moses, but the very presence and person of God.
This changed everything. This enable Jesus to be savior. It gave Him unprecedented authority and power. Peter saw Jesus heal incurable diseases, break all the laws of physics, and proclaim people’s sins forgiven. Only God can forgive sins, so this dumbfounded His critics. Take this passage from Mark 2:
1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7“Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
This text displays Jesus miraculous power and His unique claim to authority over sin. It made Him different than every other “Christ” who came before or after Him.
Do you say Jesus is the Son of God?
Finally, it is interesting that Jesus says “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you [Peter]” (KJV). Recognizing Jesus as the Christ is not something we can come to by mere human reasoning and intellect or by some wisdom of men from the ages. The Spirit of God reveals this to men. Our eyes are opened by God to see it. Paul emphasizes this, too, when he says:
14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. I Cor. 2:14
The point of all this is to take the emphasis off men and put it all squarely on God. Only God can save us – we cannot save ourselves. We cannot use our human intellect to “figure out” how to redeem ourselves. We need the Spirit of God to reveal it to us.
In other words, you cannot place your faith in yourself or in any man, but only in Jesus. Who is Jesus? He is the Christ, the son of the living God!
Now that’s a good answer! Why?
9because, if(A) you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and(B) believe in your heart(C) that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Rom. 10:9-10
